


e nei campi di ulivi, non lasciarmi andare

by Fuil_agus_deora



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Art History, But Hank adopted him because his parents were meh, Coming of Age, Connor's 21 in this, Connor's still coming to terms with who he loves, Denial of Feelings, Eventual Smut, Frustration, His actual last name is Kamski, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied Sexual Content, Italy, M/M, Markus is 22, Markus is pan, Mutual Pining, Sexual Content, Sexual Identity, Slavic Connor, So is North, Talk of Stonewall, coming of age I guess?, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 16:13:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21881020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fuil_agus_deora/pseuds/Fuil_agus_deora
Summary: 1978. Italy.Drenched in sunlight and cooled by the sea breeze.Connor Anderson has arrived in the country from Detroit, eager to get away from home for a short while. He encounters Markus Manfred, an art student doing a summer internship at a local university. As they get along more and more, something blossoms.If only fig trees and stone walls could talk.
Relationships: Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Hank and Connor are father and son - Relationship, slight Markus/North - Relationship
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. Uno (I)

Salt. Sea. Water. 

Ancient architecture, the remnants of a life long past gone. Yet, it was more present in more ways than one. Engrained in the stone streets, in the fruit trees, the very culture. Old, bygone lives resided in art, the history of others, maybe even the house down the road.

It all fascinated Connor.

In all fairness, this was new to him. Being in Italy. Staying at a friend of Hank's summer villa.

He was grateful.

The summer villa where Connor was staying at was in a small town of the Lombardy region, far away from the tourist cities. Being surrounded by nature, the pure simplicity of life, left him at peace. He could read amongst the trees in the tall grass, or swim in the river with others.

But at the same time he felt lonely. 

Should he? Connor didn't know, but he felt it anyway. It ate at him like nervousness did, but existed on his walks, in his conversations, and between his sheets. It existed between his pages, between his fingers, in his reflection. He didn't know what to do about it, and talking to Hank on the phone didn't help.

He felt like he was loneliness itself. 

Of course he didn't let it show. In his words, in his actions, his true feelings didn't slip through. 

But there was something else, as always. 

There was a boy, a local, who Connor would always see down at the river with his girlfriend. He was around the same age as Connor, possibly slightly older. Brown hair, hazel eyes, fluent Italian. He sometimes would throw a small smile at Connor, and Connor would always smile back.

He didn't want to admit that the boy's soft smile made his knees go weak. 

He _especially_ did not want to admit that thoughts of his summer infatuation bothered him late at night.

And after his body had relaxed and calmed down, sticky with sweat, his hand usually still down his damp shorts, the fact that he could never have him rushed through his mind.

  
  
His elbow rested against the window, looking out at the sight of trees and blue skies as music played from the radio. He didn't know who the singer was. Some Italian pop star, he guessed. North seemed to enjoy it. Connor was in the backseat of some type of car he wasn't familiar with. All he knew that it was a Maserati from the 50s, because his host wouldn't shut up about it. He was heading to Milan with the daughter of Hank's friend, who had insisted on him coming with her. North, the daughter, was persistent on including their guest to meet up with a couple of friends. He didn't get the chance to say no, so he just decided to go along.

He was fiddling with a coin between his fingers, watching blurs and absentmindedly listening to North blabber about something at the same time. His eyes could not focus on one thing, flitting to different objects continuously. 

Soon, the trees disappeared and the looming shadows of centuries-old buildings was all he could see. He moved his arm away from the window as they passed the even more ancient Roman ruins, and Connor couldn't tear his eyes off of the sight, completely mesmerized. He thought it couldn't get any better, until he saw the steeples of the _Duomo di Milano_ in the distance, reaching for the slowly setting sun.

Holy _shit_.

Connor wasn't so sure he's ever seen anything captivating until this. 

He wasn't religious by any means, but the cathedral's architecture was intricate. It amazed him, but he was pushed out of that train of thought when the car jerked suddenly. His head almost hit the glass of the window, and he didn’t want to think about the scene if he did, scrunching up his nose briefly.

Connor turned his head to the driver’s seat, about to ask her what the _fuck_ she was doing, only to be interrupted by the driver. 

“Get out. Siamo qui.“ North told him, shutting off the car after parking. 

Connor snorted and opened the car door, muttering a string of words in Italian under his breath. He got out, planting his feet on the cobblestone ground, waiting for North.

The young woman was soon at his side and then ahead of him, leading him to a group she seemed to recognize.

Of course, they were her friends. 

“Josh! Markus! Simon!” She called out, practically running to them. They all seemed excited, yet a bit overwhelmed.

A couple of moments later, one of the friends noticed Connor, who was standing a bit behind North to give the group some space to catch up. 

“Who’s this?” He asked, brown eyes glancing at the outlier. 

“Oh, him?” North asked. “That’s Connor, Hank’s son. He’s staying with us for the summer. Right, Connor?” 

“Mhm.” Connor replied, somewhat disinterested. 

North’s lips curled into a smile. “Connor, meet Josh.” She said before pointing to a blonde. “This is Simon. And,” her hand laid on the last companion’s shoulder, almost as if to say _Mine_ , like she was claiming what was hers and setting boundaries. “Markus.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Markus spoke up, and Connor instantly noticed his eyes. Blue? Green? No, both. He was enamored by it, but he mentally shook out of his enthrallment. 

“Uh, yeah, it’s nice to meet you guys too.” Connor retorted. He didn’t mean to come off as cold as he was, but oh well. 

“You know, you can join us.” Simon invited. “We won’t bite. Well, North might, but you know, that’s North.” 

Connor nodded slightly and stepped forward to join them hesitantly. “So, why are you guys here?” 

“Summer internship.” Josh answered, taking off his jacket to wrap it around his waist. 

Markus agreed with him. “We’re architectural design students.” 

“Ah, ovviamente.” Connor replied, his hands in the pockets of his shorts.

The rest of the evening was a blur to Connor, not being able to remember a single fucking thing when, being the rowdy young adults they were, North suggested they go dancing at a party — which included a generous amount of alcohol. 

All he remembered were those ethereal, mismatched eyes connecting with his as ABBA blasted in the background of a lantern-lit night in a foreign city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love, love Italy.
> 
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed! I absolutely love comments! First chapters are always really hard for me, so things will become smoother.


	2. Due (II)

There was something about Markus that Connor held onto, and he didn't know what.

All he knew were those fucking mismatched, held-the-secrets-of-the-universe eyes.

It didn't help that North's friend group was coming over often, sometimes staying for a couple of days at a time. And of course they would go to the river. Connor would usually sit up against a tree nearby, rereading whatever book he had rummaged through his suitcase for.

One early afternoon, they were at the river again, Connor staying back at a peach tree to read. His eyes wandered from the page to the local he had pined for, but he felt nothing. Instead, his eyes focused on Markus, annoyingly so.

He couldn’t ignore it anymore when Markus approached him, standing over him, the water glistening on his dark skin.

“You not going in the water?” Markus asked, 

“I don’t usually.” Connor replied, getting ready to mark his place in the book.

"No?" Markus teased him, catching a towel that was tossed at him.

A soft smile formed on Connor's lips. "No."

He expected him to turn and leave, half-hoping that he would sit next to him instead. 

And sit he did. 

_Aspetta. Aspetta, cosa?_ What was going on?

Markus glanced at the cover of the book, which was entirely in Russian. "What are you reading?"

Connor closed the book to show him the cover, making sure he marked his place. "Wings, Mikhail Kuzmin." He translated, opening the book back up afterwards.

The man next to raised an eyebrow. "You can read Russian?"

Connor simply nodded, brushing his hair out of his face. "Half my family's Russian."

"Oh, okay. I see." He commented, draping the towel over his shoulder.

"Oh, so you’re suspicious of me now?" He snarked, toying with his words. Even if it was his forth time rereading this book, he couldn't seem to focus on it like before.

"No, no, not at all. I just didn't know that." 

Connor gave him a curt nod of understanding and intended to once more disappear into the pages, but instead wet his dry lips and closed his book yet again and placed it off to the side. "Tell me something about yourself."

"Hmm?" Markus hummed in response, leaning against the tree's trunk. 

Connor turned his body so the top half of his body was facing Markus. "I said, tell me something about yourself."

Butterfly affect, starting to go down a path he wasn't entirely familiar with. He didn't know why he was doing this, yet he knew he didn't want to get too attached. He knew, knew better than anyone, that attachment would lead to heartbreak eventually.

And in this case, he would most likely never see or hear from Markus again after the hot summer ended. He didn't deal with departure, going separate ways, well at all. It was something he was always paranoid about, unable to shake it from his mind and habits.

The other man chuckled. "I heard you the first time. What would you like to know?"

Connor smiled, glancing at the river for a few moments before looking back at Markus. "Anything. Anything that pops into your mind first."

“Well...” Markus thought for a moment. “Other than the quite obvious fact that I have heterochromia, I’m adopted.”

Connor stretched upwards, reaching for a couple of peaches. He grabbed both with one hand and snapped them off the twigs, handing one to Markus, which he accepted. “Thought Manfred sounded familiar, now I know why.” He rubbed the fruit with his sleeve to clean it off and bit into the flesh, the sticky juices dripping down his chin and fingers. 

Markus couldn’t help but laugh at the sight beside him. He placed his peach on the ground next to him. “You’ve got a little something on your chin. Here, let me.” He grabbed the towel from his shoulder and wiped the juice off the other’s skin with the cloth.

“Ugh, thanks.” Connor replied, sucking the fruit juice off his fingers. 

“You know what’s a better way of getting that off?” Markus asked, standing up and discarding the towel as Connor looked up at him. 

“What?”

“If you joined us in the water.” He told him, a smirk on his lips.

“Was this your way of getting me in the river, Markus Manfred?” Connor asked, starting to unbutton his shirt. 

“...Maybe.” He offered him a hand to help him up.

Connor slipped off his shirt and took Markus’ hand, a smile on his face. “Clever. Hai vinto.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can only finish something if it’s gay.
> 
> Also, I know Connor is half-Russian and knows the language and while he will speak Russian at some point, the Cold War was still going on in the 70s. People would report others for being spies simply because they spoke the language.
> 
> Keep in mind, the Civil Rights movement had just ended in America a couple years before, so Markus and Josh will talk about their experience of discrimination back home at some point, and how different Italy is in that regard. 
> 
> yes I did my research okay


End file.
